Gamma Corps

Gamma Corps
The Gamma Corps. Art by Stephane Roux.
Publication information
Publisher	Marvel Comics
First appearance	World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #1, (July 2007)
Created by	Frank Tieri Carlos Ferreira
In-story information
Member(s)	Grey Griffin Mess Mister Gideon Prodigy

The Gamma Corps are a fictional comic book military unit and an anti-hero team published by Marvel Comics. The team first appears in World War Hulk: Gamma Corps #1, and was created by Frank Tieri and Carlos Ferreira.

Fictional history

The Gamma Corps were selected as individuals whose lives had in some way been harmed or ruined by the Hulk. Using Hulk's DNA, acquired from the scene of a battle with Wolverine, these people were transformed into gamma-irradiated supersoldiers. The team were assembled by General Ryker with the objective of destroying the Hulk.

According to the Marvel previews, they are armed with a variety of military weapons and have been trained to destroy the Hulk. Gideon, Grey and Mess are in the group because they hold the Hulk responsible for the loss of their loved ones, while Griffin and Prodigy hold more personal grudges against the green goliath.

Their first mission involved tracking down the failed Hulk-copy experiment, Private Benjamin Tibbits (AKA Flux) and killing him.

They later appeared in World War Hulk. After failing to defeat the Hulk, the Gamma Corps discovered that he was not directly responsible for their individual situations and decided to go after the people who were, the Illuminati.

The Gamma Corps are set to return in the Dark Reign: Made Men series.

Membership

• Grey: Lieutenant Brian Talbot, younger brother of Colonel Glenn Talbot. Created with Hulk and Leader's DNA. Trained in martial arts. The Leader DNA doesn't make him as smart as Prodigy but he's a brilliant military strategist and it seems to have been meant as a way to prevent him from losing control. Brian was often bullied and beaten by his older brother, and had actually been delighted to hear of his death. He claimed he joined the Gamma Corps because the Hulk was dangerous but really it was to do what Glenn couldn't: destroy the Hulk. During battle with the Hulk, the Leader DNA failsafe failed due to Hulk's tauntings about his true reasons for fighting and sent Grey on a rampage.
• Griffin: Private First Class Eliot Franklin, formerly Clown of the Circus of Crime. A Harpy-like man, based on the Betty Ross mutation. He has sharp claws and talons, and can spit a slimy corrosive venom. He is shown to be somewhat mentally unstable, and apparently joined because he just wants someone to be mad at. This Griffin should not be confused with Johnny Horton who also has the name.
• Mess: Corporal Nicole Martin. An Abomination-like red-headed woman. She and her son were caught in the sidelines of a Hulk/Abomination battle. Consequently, her son burned to death in a car fire, and she was left badly scarred. Parts of her body were replaced with parts cloned from Abomination. While her Abomination parts possess superhuman qualities, her human parts retain normal human strength and durability. She is skilled at marksmanship and is the most well-trained member of the team. She later discovered that it was the Abomination who caused the accident, not the Hulk.
• Mister Gideon: Master Sergeant Gideon Wilson, father of Jim Wilson (and presumably the older brother of Sam Wilson), he blames the Hulk for his son's death. A muscular African-American man similar to Doc Samson. He is armed with a pair of titanium knuckles. When the Hulk seemed to be defeated, he realized that it wasn't what he wanted after all. He originally blamed Hulk for his son's death, but the Hulk pointed out that while he (as Banner) had refused a blood transfusion to Jim out of fear he'd become a Hulk as well, Jim died of AIDS. Furthermore, Jim had him believing he was an orphan for years. Gideon realized his hatred was actually self-directed, and he later offered some words of advice to the Hulk about his own revenge pursuits.
• Prodigy: Private Timothy Wilkerson. Created using the Leader's DNA and artificially aged. While he was still in the womb, his mother was frightened by the Hulk's appearance, and suffered a stroke, which adversely affected her son's development. (He later discovered that the real cause of his condition was his mother taking heroin while she was pregnant). He is responsible for creating the team's equipment. He has limited telepathic abilities and can project psychic blasts.

Gamma Corps: Black

Some time later, Ryker, under the auspices of Norman Osborn, created a new Gamma Corps, composed of female "volunteers" (mentally unstable ex-soldiers on death row) for the Origins Corporation's gene therapy program, and sent them to capture the new She-Hulk, so that her DNA could be harvested. They killed Lyra's fellow A.R.M.O.R. agents and took her computer, Boudicca, from her, which drove her to hunt them down, first killing Morass by drying out her body. The remaining two ran to a small town, attempting to hold the people hostage in order to make Lyra surrender. In the ensuing battle, Lyra badly wounded Aberration, causing her body to mutate into a tumorous mess, before finally killing her with a pipe to the head. Axon then threatened to electrocute all the townspeople unless Lyra surrendered. Axon absorbed most of Lyra's bio-electric energy, absorbing her powers. Lyra then made Axon angry, causing the stolen powers to weaken, and defeated her. Axon was then killed remotely by Ryker's men.

Membership

• Aberration: Private Rana Philips, another Abomination/human experiment, similar to Mess, but with the end result being more akin to a svelte version of the Abomination. Her commanding officer used her as a scapegoat for his torture of prisoners, leading her to kill him, and be sentenced to death herself, leaving her open for the chance to be altered by Ryker instead.
• Morass: A human/Glob fusion.
• Axon: Staff Sergeant Erin Cicero, a human/Zzzax creation. Following a military skirmish, she suffered Post-traumatic stress disorder, leaving her so paranoid that she believed everyone around her was an enemy agent, leading her to kill her squad, and even her family. She too was sentenced to death, and given the choice to be part of Ryker's experiments instead. Axon is the most vicious of the group, electrocuting a wounded A.R.M.O.R. agent just for the sheer fun of it.